Judge Rules that Federal Administration is to Indemnify Krenhakarore's
11/13/97
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Headline: Judge Rules that Federal Administration is to Indemnify
Krenhakarore's
Source: Indianist Missionary Council - Cimi
Date: 11/13/97
Newsletter n. 286
JUDGE RULES THAT FEDERAL ADMINISTRATION IS TO INDEMNIFY KRENHAKARORE
INDIANS
So far, the federal administration has not appealed against the
ruling issued on October 24 by judge Novely Vilanova Silva Reis, of
the 7th Federal Court of Brasilia, according to which it must pay a
monthly indemnification of two minimum salaries for each Krenhakarore
Indian who died after being contacted for the first time in the 1970s.
The Krenhakarore, also known as Panara or giant Indians, were affected
by diseases and were almost decimated after Funai decided to remove
them from their traditional area and settle them in the Xingu
Indigenous Reservation, in the state of Mato Grosso, so that the
Cuiaba-Santarem highway could be built. Judge Novely Reis argues that
the federal administration and Funai did not adopt strict measures to
protect the community and that economic interests should not be given
priority to the detriment of the legal duty to protect indigenous
populations. In the same ruling, the federal administration was
sentenced to pay an indemnification of 4,000 minimum salaries (about
R$ 480 thousand) to the survivors. In practice, the State was held
responsible for the genocide and sentenced to compensate the Indians
for the moral and cultural damages it caused them.
The Krenhakarore were hastily and aggressively contacted by Funai
between 1973 and 1975 because the government wanted to build the
Cuiaba-Santarem highway in their land. They were contaminated with
diseases and suffered other acts of aggression which resulted in the
death of 185 of them. Of the 260 Indians who were found, only 75 were
actually settled in the Xingu Reservation, and by then they were
completely disoriented, sick and depressed. A few years ago, the
Panara decided to go back to their traditional territory, located
close to the border between the states of Mato Grosso and Para. As a
result of their action, the Ministry of Justice demarcated a
495,000-hectare area close to the municipality of Guarata do Norte, in
the state of Mato Grosso, but the area continues to be constantly
invaded by mining and timber companies. In October of this year, the
Indians reacted and expelled individuals who were living on four farms
located inside the indigenous area.
The judicial ruling, which was issued only now, had national
repercussions not only because the federal administration was
convicted, but mainly because judge Novely Reis is the father of
Antonio Novely, one of the four murderers of Indian Galdino Jesus dos
Santos, who was burned alive in April in Brasilia. When asked about
this coincidence, Cimi has been saying that the decision regarding the
Panara issue was, without any doubt, fair, regardless of the fact that
it was issued by judge Novely Reis. The entity expects the same
fairness in the judgment of the murderers of Galdino Jesus, in tune
with what the same judge declared to the press right after the crime:
``Society can rest assured of the fairness of the courts (...) Judge
my son for what he did, and do not let the fact that he is the son of
a federal judge interfere in your judgment''.
FEDERAL COURT CONVICTS MURDERERS OF INDIANS
The Federal Court of Minas Gerais convicted former squatter
Venancio Nunes Macedo to 20 years in prison for killing three Xacriaba
Indians. In the 24-hour judgment, the verdict was unanimous and no
appeals against it can be filed. The sentence will be served in a
state prison. Venancio Nunes was a member of a group of 14 people,
among whom gunmen hired by local farmers, who on 11 February 1987
invaded the home of Indian Rosalino Gomes da Silva and killed him, as
well as Xacriaba Indians Manoel Fiuza da Silva and Jose Pereira de
Santana. They were killed as a result of conflicts arising from
the demarcation of land areas. It was the sixth conviction of persons
involved in that massacre, but only one of them has been actually
arrested. Six of them are at large, one was murdered by mistake by his
own companions and the others were legally released after serving
one-sixth of their sentence.
Brasilia, 13 November 1997
Indianist Missionary Council - Cimi